Bishop Hall and Central soccer player Rodrigues signs with Andrew College
May 8—THOMASVILLE — Meredith Rodrigues's story is certainly one of overcoming. The Central soccer player, who missed her senior year with the team, signed her letter to play soccer at the collegiate level at Andrew College.
"It's very surprising because I didn't get to play senior year and I didn't think I was going to be able to play in college, but I'm pretty excited to play this year," Rodrigues said. "I can't wait. It's just a lot of emotions."
Rodrigues started playing soccer with the YMCA and eventually started playing with a TASA team where she played with many of her eventual Thomas County Central team mates. Rodrigues proved to be a force on the field with her aggressive and physical style of play. Her soccer game earned her the nickname "wrecking ball" in her youth, given to her by opposing teams, and she was once given a penalty after an opponent ran into her and fell down. The referees explanation for the call was that Rodrigues was simply "bigger than her".
Rodrigues's physical style of play and skills were enough to earn her a spot on Thomas County Central's varsity squad as a freshman, though she unfortunately tore her ACL. The injury kept Rodrigues out for a year and she had to go through physical therapy and essentially learn how to walk again.
She came back to play her sophomore and junior year and was stellar, becoming a key part of Central's back line in her junior season.
Unfortunately, due to some health complications, Rodrigues missed her senior year and finished her high school education at Bishop Hall.
However, her skills caught the attention of Andrew College where she will be continuing her education and her soccer career. Andrew College's women's soccer program is relatively new, having been around for just under 10 years. Rodrigues said that she is looking forward to helping build the program.
When asked what she was looking forward to most about going to Andrew College Rodrigues responded with a smile on her face, "Playing soccer".
